


First Day

by supernaturallylost



Category: Supernatural
Genre: First Meetings, Fluff, Janitor Dean, M/M, Teacher Castiel, just a lot of fluffy fluff, just fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-02
Updated: 2016-06-02
Packaged: 2018-07-11 21:23:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7070902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/supernaturallylost/pseuds/supernaturallylost
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Oh yeah!” he said from the doorway. “You’re the new teacher!”</p><p>The man from the doorway came inside, broom in hand. He was wearing a dull bluish gray jumpsuit with brown boots. Without being told, Castiel knew this must be the janitor.</p>
            </blockquote>





	First Day

Castiel arrived with time to spare.

…a lot of time to spare. Actually, his time to spare had its own time to spare. The sky wasn’t even bright yet when he wormed his way into the building, using his new key on one of the back doors and then locking it behind him. He hurried to the third floor, room 309. When he reached the door, he straightened his tie, set down his briefcase, and unlocked the door. With one push, the door swung inward, and Castiel looked at his new work area. For the next several months, he would be in this room every Monday to Friday, 6am to 6pm.

The room was still dark, so he flipped on the lights.

“Ah,” he nodded. “This is it.”

When he walked in, he was greeted by a wall with a line of windows in front of him. To his left was the space he needed for a small desk with a computer, and to his right was a wide open area. There were desks in the room, pushed to the end of the carpeted space. Castiel smiled to himself, set his briefcase where he would want his desk, and unbuttoned his jacket. This is why he insisted on coming early.

While he worked, Castiel looked around the room at the posters that were still hanging from last year. The old teacher must have loved quotes, and had left several famous quotations hanging on the walls. They were probably meant to motivate her students, but Castiel found them distracting. He would be teaching middle schoolers, after all – eleven year olds, twelve year olds, thirteen year olds, and maybe some ten or fourteen year olds as well if they had early or late birthdays. Castiel was excited, ready to make an impression on the youth.

Eventually, the desks were lined up in rows facing the whiteboard on the right. Castiel’s desk would be behind them, once he moved one there, and then he could get the desk prepared as well.

Waiting for the sun to rise, Castiel occupied his attention with setting up the room, writing his name on the board with a fun fact below it, and re-doing each of those until the sunlight reminded him that he had more to do.

“You need anything while I’m here?” someone said from the doorway.

A happy, freckled face was leaning in the doorway. He had bright green eyes and a sarcastic smile, but he gave off a very genuine vibe. Castiel smiled at him, and he seemed surprised.

“Oh yeah!” he said from the doorway. “You’re the new teacher!”

The man from the doorway came inside, broom in hand. He was wearing a dull bluish gray jumpsuit with brown boots. Without being told, Castiel knew this must be the janitor.

“Hello,” Castiel smiled, a slight blush on the tops of his cheeks. “Yes, I’m the new Social Studies teacher here.”

“I’m head custodian,” the other man answered, reaching out a hand. “My name’s Dean. Just Dean. I’ve been here for years, so if you need anything, let me know.”

Castiel nodded. “I’m Castiel Novak. Pleased to meet you, Dean.”

“So,” Dean said awkwardly, looking around like he was waiting.

“So?”

“Um,” Dean said. “Do you need help with anything? I’m doing my rounds right now and I heard you moving stuff around from two floors down.”

Castiel laughed and pointed at the desk he’d been trying to move to the back of the room. He told Dean where he needed it and walked over to help, but Dean was quick. He reached the desk first and moved it entirely on his own. Once it was perfectly in place, Dean rubbed the back of his neck, looking Castiel up and down.

“So,” he said, “I’ll see you around, Cas. Let me know if you need anything, okay?”

Castiel nodded politely, thanked Dean again, and continued to prepare for the first day of the school year.

 

“Can a knee even sweat?” Castiel wondered to himself. He was hot, he was sweaty, and he was uncomfortable.

Ten minutes until children would file through that door. They were all currently in the gymnasium, waiting to be dismissed to their first classes of the day after the early morning assembly. Castiel had twenty-two students this morning. Twenty-two adolescents who could be inquisitive, polite, well-mannered, or complete terrors. He remembered his brother Gabriel when he was in school. The memory did nothing to steel his nerves.

He heard the bell chime in the hallway and groaned. He waited for the children to fill the room, to meet their new Social Studies teacher. One minute passed. Two minutes… three minutes… four minutes…

The first kid came into the room quietly, looking around quickly for a seat.

“Sit anywhere,” Castiel said to him kindly, gesturing to the room, “and welcome!”

“Usually we have assigned seating,” the kid said simply. Then he walked and sat down by the windows.

The rest of the kids that arrived were confused by the seating as well. Castiel blushed, but tried to keep calm. He’d already confused them, and it was their first day.

“So,” Castiel said from in front of the kids’ curious eyes. He clapped his hands once to get rid of some of the tension. Then he smiled. “My name is Mr. Novak, and I’ll be your Social Studies teacher this year.”

A hand shot up from the back of the room. Cas hesitated, but nodded while pointing at the child belonging to the hand.

“Are you new here?” asked the kid.

“Yes, I am,” Cas said with a nod, “and I’m very excited to be here. Are you excited?”

The kid shrugged. Cas laughed awkwardly, hoping someone would take pity on him and laugh with him. As the next hour crept by, no one came to his rescue. He made joke after joke that left the children confused and even concerned. It was clear that this was Castiel’s first day on the job, ever. When the bell finally rang, bringing relief to the students and to Cas, there was a collective sigh in the room.

Cas had a free period 2nd hour and 5th hour where there were no students in his room. So he sat down and thought about how he’d have to do that same thing again four more times today. He groaned quietly after the halls quieted down and the students were all in their proper classrooms.

A knock on the door convinced him to look up. Green eyes grinned at Cas from the doorway.

“Hey Cas!” Dean smiled.

“Hello, Dean,” Cas answered with a sad wave.

“Rough start?”

Cas shrugged and opened his mouth to vent. Before anything came out, however, a student rushed into the room.

“I forgot my history book!” he said, quickly retrieving it from beneath his desk and then heading out. Before he left, though, he noticed who was in the doorway and said, “Hey, Dean! I’m in the seventh grade now!”

Dean grinned with wide eyes, giving the kid a high five.

“That’s awesome, bud!” he laughed. “You’re lucky to have Mr. Novak as one of your teachers. I talked to him this morning and he’s really cool.”

The kid bit his lip like he didn’t quite believe it and then he continued off to his class. Cas smiled.

“Do you know him?” Cas asked.

“I know everyone,” Dean shrugged. He walked inside and sat down on a kids desk in front of Cas. “When I first started a few years ago, I broke up a fight between two well-known bullies. They stopped bullying after I had a talk with them, so the kids around here always remember me. I do my best to remember their names, too.”

“That’s amazing,” Cas said, genuinely impressed. “I wish they liked me.”

“They will, Cas,” Dean nodded encouragingly. “You’ve just gotta warm up to each other, you know?”

Castiel nodded sadly and sighed.

“I could help if you want,” Dean offered.

Cas raised an eyebrow.

“I mean,” Dean said, suddenly red in the face, “they’d automatically like you more if I talk you up.”

“Oh, you don’t have to do that, Dean,” Cas said, shaking his head. “I’ll find a way for them to respect me. Don’t worry about it.”

“Well,” Dean said. He scratched the back of his neck and went a darker shade of red. “I mean, I was thinking we could trade. I do that for you and then you do something for me…”

“Like what?” Castiel asked, wondering why Dean was suddenly so shy.

“We could go on a date,” Dean laughed awkwardly. “I mean, if you want to. You don’t have to or anything, but I just talked around a bit and I heard you weren’t in a relationship or anything, so…”

“Who told you that?” Cas asked, not denying that he was single, just curious how anyone could know without him telling them.

“It’s a school, dude,” Dean grinned. “Everyone knows everything.”

Cas nodded, took a deep breath, and said, “I’ll date you, but you’re not allowed to talk me up to the students. I need to earn their admiration on my own.”

“From what I can see,” Dean said lowly, “it shouldn’t take long for that.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Just a bit of random fluff - no plans on continuing, so you're just gonna have to imagine what happens next. :P Imagine, though - Cas and Dean being those kids' favorite people ever. *sigh* Parents at heart.


End file.
